


One at a Time

by hotdogsandpopcorn



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: And has a very beautiful family, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, I have no idea, Kinda, M/M, My First AO3 Post, No Beta, alec is happy, anyway i'm a fledgling and i don't think i ought to have a beta yet, i think, is that an important tag, married Malec, random drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27044884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotdogsandpopcorn/pseuds/hotdogsandpopcorn
Summary: In which Alec thinks of how perfunctory his life used to be, and is immensely grateful for whichever divine being sent Magnus Bane his way.***a short drabble written in a fit of random inspiration :)
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood & Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 14
Kudos: 36





	One at a Time

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here I go. Finally. *gulps*  
> First work in a fandom (kinda) and first ao3 post.   
> This is a little scary, truth be told.  
> *hides behind bush*  
> Don't kill me.  
> Also, I apologize before-hand if there're any appalling grammatical mistakes.  
> Again, please don't kill me.
> 
> Heh heh.

Alec had always lived his life in a routine.

It was part of him being a Shadowhunter, and part of him just thriving in a strict schedule of do-this, do-that, and then repeat.

At least, he thought that he thrived in it. Having schedules gave Alec a peace of mind, he used to think; an aspect of control over his quite chaotic, demon-hunting life; something akin to satisfaction. Lying down on his bed every day, looking up at the ceiling mindlessly while he ticked off all the boxes in his mental checklist of things that had to have been done was what gave Alec peaceful sleep.

He never stopped. He never broke out of his routine. And he never attempted to change it.

But that was all until Magnus Bane came into his life, barreling haphazardly in a wild array of colours and knocking down Alec’s rather sour expectations of life like bowling pins. And he had definitely scored a strike.

Before him, when Alec woke up every day, he’d drink a glass of water, brush, shower, eat breakfast (all in that order) and finally be ready to face the day. He’d patrol with his siblings, and train his ass off. He’d force himself to sit down and write every single report required, not willing to postpone finishing them. Then there were the simple chores like laundry and dish-washing and making sure his bed was done and his room neat and so on. And maybe it was of no use to anyone if his bed was done every day, as both of his parents were more concerned about things like ‘demons’ and the ‘Clave’. But Alec made sure anyway. Each one of the chores was fit intricately into his day, done at the most convenient time, so that Alec would be efficient and ready to leave for missions always at a moment's notice.

Now, however, the Shadowhunter woke up not to his alarms, but to the sunlight streaming in bright and hot through the window in Magnus’s room. Now, when he woke up, he wouldn’t have to jump out of bed and start his day immediately. Because now he had a husband he could kiss lazily and cuddle with for the most part of his mornings.

There used to be a small itch in the back of his mind at the beginning of all this — whenever he would let himself go and _relax_ — and Alec would always overthink about it. What would happen if he just forewent what he always did; what he’d always had to do? If he let his guard down now, wasn’t it supposed to hurt later?

But Magnus had been nothing short of beautiful; always patient and understanding and just _so_ beautiful that Alec wanted to cry. He was so bright and colourful and _safe_ that Alec had had no repercussions in slowly breaking out of the cycle of what he’d come to call his life. When he was with Magnus he found himself just following whatever his gut felt right about, what his heart yearned to do (And most of the times, the answer to both was Magnus.)

All the never-ending expectations and visions of how he'd wanted his life to go just faded, and all there was left was the right now, the one he shared with Magnus.

The loud voices and the heart-numbing control he’d had on himself had fallen away like dominoes, every one of his tightly wound nerves unravelling and stretching out to find life in each of the seconds he spent loving.

And then, Alec wasn’t so afraid anymore.

He wasn’t afraid of what could happen. He wasn’t even afraid of what was most certainly going to happen. Why should he when he had this soul full of love next to him — always beside him — holding his hand and walking with him through life?

After all those years of hurting and thinking, now all Alec could feel was peace.

“Good morning,” Magnus’s eyelids opened halfway lazily, the corners of his mouth curving up into a smile. Alec felt like it was the first time he was breathing pure air.

He bent his head, burying it in Magnus’s neck and mumbled against the bronze skin, “Good morning.”

“Papa! Dad! Maxie’s drinking all the maple syrup again!”

“I am not!” another voice said indignantly. “Don’t listen to him, Papa. Rafe’s lying.”

Magnus laughed softly, his fingers wound in Alec’s hair. “Ready to wake up and save the syrup?”

“Only if I get some pancakes at the end of it.” Alec did not let his husband out of the tight hold he had on him.

“YOUNG JUVENILES OF THIS HOUSE—” Alec winced— “are there any pancakes left?”

“Uh — ”

“Sorry, Papa,” Max shouted back. “Rafe ate them all.”

“I did not!”

Alec made a show of pouting, sitting up and crossing his arms across his chest.

Magnus kissed it off. “Don’t worry, love. I’ll get some more for you.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “You mean you’ll steal it from some poor mundane. No, thank you.”

“Fine, then. How would you like it if I _made_ some?”

“Never mind,” Alec said quickly. “I’ll do it myself.”

“Hey!” Magnus protested. “I’m not that bad at making pancakes.”

“Tell that to the poor lady whose head you hit the last time you cooked.” Alec was out of the bed and by the door, shooting Magnus a teasing grin.

“I was just _flipping_ the pancake,” said Magnus quietly. “It wasn’t supposed to fly out the window.”

Alec laughed, feeling incredibly full and so in love with his life.

One at a time. He was going to take it all one moment and one smile at a time.

And it was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> So that was that.   
> And that was new.  
> I'm just gonna have to write and write until it's less 'new.'  
> So, anyone have any ideas?? I'll be very happy to write random malec stuff. I can't get enough of it.
> 
> Here's moi [tumblr](https://hotdogsandpopcorn.tumblr.com/). Come stalk me :)
> 
> And if you have any suggestions, hit me up! I am but a lowly creature with a non-existent social life and only zoom classes to take up my time, so I'll be positively indebted to you if you have something for me I can do.


End file.
